


Kill Me With Desire

by jynx



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka the Bookie, Awkwardness, Clue By Four Needed, Crack Treated Seriously, Cultural Differences, Flirting, Hotpants, Idiots in Love, Inadvertent cockblock, M/M, Pining, Wolffe has lost all his money, anakin is always to blame, open mouth insert foot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-06 04:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16381196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jynx/pseuds/jynx
Summary: Everyone knows about the catastrophe known as Kenobi. He came with warnings, after all. Cody's first General warned him. Alpha-17 warned him. Kriff, even the man's former Padawan had warned him.





	Kill Me With Desire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wrennette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/gifts).



> So much love to Shadowmaat and Cuzosu for the beta. 8D Also, this was totally a conversation me and Wrennette had on tumblr ages ago and *cough* So I asked them to pick a number 1-3 and this ended up being the number they picked in the doc. SO! >D I already know Wrennette enjoyed it but I hope the rest of you do as well.

There were always rumors about General Kenobi, the Jedi assigned the Fourth Sector Army, even before he made High General and was given the Thirteenth Sector Army that comprised the rest of System Army Gamma. Cody didn't usually listen to rumors, but that was before General Windu had given him one of those sly smiles and nominated him for more officer training on Kamino with Alpha-17.

"Whoever they give you, I hope it's not Kenobi," Windu had chuckled. "You'd be a good match, don't get me wrong, but he's a hard man to keep up with." 

Cody had kept quiet, not wanting to question or comment on another Jedi, and gone off to his training. He'd met back up with Rex, Bly, Ponds, Wolffe, and others he remembered from a few other missions and their first training classes. They weren't really sure why they had been selected--Rex more uncomfortable than most, with his CT designation amongst the rest of the CC-class clones--but Alpha-17 had strode up looking like hell and grinning like he had a pack of detonators. 

"I'm supposed to turn you all into officers who can keep up with the craziest the Jedi can throw at us," Alpha-17 had announced. "Considering I've seen the worst the Order seems to have turned out in the last century, I think I can do that. Anyone who loves their rules and regs are going to have to throw them out the airlock. Learn to bend or they're going to break you." 

"Sir?" Bly had asked, confused. 

"Kenobi," Alpha-17 had growled. "Whichever one of you gets that _dini'la_ Jedi, may all the gods bless you. You all know of Durge by now, yes?" Murmurs and agreements. "He took the _hut'uun_ on head-to-head and got his skull cracked for his troubles, got up, and kept fighting. Trying to get him to wear armor is met with an eye roll and an excuse that it hinders movement." 

Cody blanched. Even Windu wore some abbreviation of armor. 

"He loses his own weapon more that he uses it," Alpha-17 had gone on, clearly relishing in the embellishment. No trained warrior lost their weapon! 

"Sir," Wolffe had interrupted. "We get it. Prepare for the worst and then keep preparing." 

Alpha-17 arched a scarred eyebrow. "You don't believe me now, but whoever gets him will soon enough." 

When Alpha-17 had handed out the assignments at the end, Cody was pretty sure the older clone was laughing at him. Other than a heartfelt "good luck" there was no advice on how to deal with a Jedi who seemed to be the very incarnate of destruction itself. Rex, thankfully, had been paired with a Jedi under Kenobi, so they could be each other's support since Skywalker was another subject of Alpha-17's many rants on unorthodox Jedi. 

It would take another four months before Skywalker, Rex, and the 501st Legion, caught up with the rest of the fleet, but by then Cody had already won the armor battle with Kenobi. His General seemed to have a sense of humor, at least, and was very fond of his men--which had been the basis of Cody's argument. Stay alive for us, sir, you wouldn't want the men to mourn you now would you? Blackmail, it seemed, worked very well with this Jedi. 

"Hi!" Skywalker had greeted him, also in the modified armor that all clones were shoving their Jedi into wholesale. Cody had tried not to smirk to see that Rex had also won that one. "You're Cody, right? Obi-Wan's new Commander?" 

"I am," Cody had confirmed. 

"Excellent! So, I need to give you some warnings about my Master," Skywalker had said, gesturing for Cody to have a seat at the table in the mess. Any brother in listening distance had definitely perked up at that. "He is an unholy flirt, so be aware of that. If it has a pulse, he flirts with it. Actually, I've seen him flirt with his tea in the morning and a door when he was really, really tired, so maybe the pulse isn't required." 

Cody had stared at him, taken aback. "Uh?" 

"I'm just saying, it's a battle tactic," Skywalker had continued, holding up a hand and looking pained. "He flirts with Ventress to make her angry and throw her off her game. Though she flirts back and sometimes I want to throw up just listening to it." 

O-kay then. 

"He's also very, very bad at keeping himself alive?" Skywalker had continued, brightening. "But you got him to wear armor! That's a mark in your favor!" 

"How bad are we talking?" Cody had asked slowly. Maybe Alpha-17 hadn't been exaggerating after all. 

"Bad," Skywalker had said, cheerful, all sunny smiles as he got up and walked away. He called back over his shoulder: "And he's allergic to the medbay and all healers. You will never find out he's injured until he's passed out in a corner, bleeding out. Good talk! Keep my Master alive!" 

"We're kriffed," someone had whispered. 

Cody had definitely agreed then, and he completely agreed now as he stared at Boil and Waxer. 

"You did what now?" he asked. 

"We got the General a gift!" Waxer grinned as Boil hid behind his own hand. 

"To be fair, Waxer did it and I'm along for the ride," Boil said, voice muffled. 

"It's a great gift, sir. He'll get a kick out of it," Waxer said. 

"What did you get?" Cody asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and feeling a headache coming on. 

"They're a pair of gold shorts with the words 'hot mess' on them!" Waxer said. 

Cody exhaled through his nose as the pressure built in his head. He loved these two men. They were two of his best scouts. His General would be incredibly upset if he hurt them. "Get back to work," he ordered. 

"But," Waxer protested. "Sir." 

"If you can cancel the order, do so," Cody said. 

"We can't," Boil said. "I already looked. Waxer put a message in and everything." 

Cody rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, feeling the pressure lighten slightly. "Get back to work, both of you. I want plausible deniability." 

"It's a great present," Waxer protested as Boil dragged him off. "The General will love it!" 

Cody merely sighed and went back to work, promptly forgetting about the ill-advised "present" until the next mail day when a package arrived for the General. Skywalker and Tano were aboard and looked curious, as a confused General Kenobi opened the package, and a scrap of fabric came slithering out. 

"What the--?" Skywalker demanded, eyes wide. 

General Kenobi blinked as Tano snatched them out of his hand. "Ah, there's a note," he said, looking at the flimsi that had come with the package. 

Waxer and Boil were on deck and both turned to stare at Cody. Cody's eyes narrowed at them. Shorts? Those barely classified as clothing! 

"'For our hot mess general, love the 212th,'" the General read off, definitely holding back laughter. "I'm not _that_ bad, am I?" 

Several troopers laughed, chiming in how he either _was_ that bad or no, he could be worse. 

Tano was holding up the material. They were indeed gold, and had little flames on them, with the words "hot mess" in Basic. "You know, I don't think these are going to fit you, Master." 

The General arched an eyebrow. "You don't think I can wear hot pants, Ahsoka?" he asked, tone dry and just this side of offended. 

Boil choked on air and Cody's eyes widened. Hot pants? They had said _shorts_! Shorts implied length! Hot pants were essentially underwear! Waxer, though, looked far too pleased with himself. Cody felt his left eye twitch; there was a _vod_ who was going to be getting latrine duty for the next five campaigns if he had his way. 

"I think you're going to have to prove it," Tano said, tossing the hot pants to General Kenobi. 

"Why is this my life?" Skywalker asked, a hand over his face. He looked up suddenly and pointed at the other man, looking horrified. "Don't you _dare_ strip down here, Obi-Wan!" 

The General, who apparently had already started undoing his belt, paused. "Ah?" 

"You're awful," Skywalker sighed. "Why do you do this?" 

"I don't get it," Tano asked, head tilted to the side with hand hands on her hips. "It's not like the Temple was big on modesty anyway. We have all those big communal showers, who cares if we're naked?" 

The clones had shifted awkwardly, curious about this, but not sure what to make of their General ready to strip _naked_ in front of them either. Cody was frozen to the spot, half-ready to issue orders for the men to scatter, but unable to tear his eyes away from a half-rumpled looking General Kenobi. 

Oh. 

Well, kriff him. 

"Or warzones," Kenobi pointed out. "You can hardly care about modesty when a medic, or someone else, needs to get something out of the way to save your life. It's just skin. Honestly, Anakin, you do have the oddest hang ups sometimes." 

"Just, if you're going to try them on, you have a bunk," Skywalker said, looking up at the hangar ceiling. "I for one don't want to see you naked--" 

"Brat," Kenobi said, though it was fond. 

"--and I'm sure your troops don't either!" Skywalker said. 

At that, General Kenobi paused. "Ah, good point." He turned to the men with an awkward smile and a tiny bow. "I'm sorry if I made any of you feel awkward, it wasn't my intent. I forgot, for a moment, that not everyone has the same view of nudity that the Jedi do." Another pause and a wicked smile. "As you can tell from Anakin's perspective." 

"It's fine, sir," Cody managed to say. "I think you just caught most of us off-guard." 

"Feel free to strip down whenever," Odd Ball called out. 

"Nope! I'm good!" Skywalker said, heading toward the bridge. 

General Kenobi's look was decidedly sly as he watched the other Jedi go. Tano sighed and trotted over to catch up to him. "Well, all the same, thank you for your thoughtfulness. I will, uh, try not to be such a hot mess in the future? I make no promises, but it was very thoughtful." 

The men, who either had no idea or all the idea, chimed back at him and watched him go--probably to continue tormenting Skywalker. It seemed to be what General Kenobi lived for, when he wasn't destroying droids or baiting Sith. 

Cody turned and pinned Waxer with a stare. " _Shorts_?" he demanded. 

"They said shorts on the site!" Waxer protested as some of the _vod'e_ laughed. 

"And where did you order them from, Strippers R Us?" Cody hissed. 

Boil picked up the discarded package and snorted. "Hot Topic? Waxer, you trying to tell us you got a crush on our General? You know that's not how it works." 

Waxer threw his helmet at his brother, swearing at him. "No!" he said. 

Boil dropped the packaging and caught the helmet. "Well, at least he liked them." 

"You sent it from the whole Battalion," Odd Ball said, coming close. "That was gutsy." 

"Better than just signing it 'Commander Cody'," Waxer said, edging away. 

Cody stared at them. "I would have kriffing spaced you." 

Matters seemed to only get more out of hand as the General did indeed wear the hot pants. Each carrier was well equipped with their own workout centers so the men could keep in shape--or work off excess energy--as well as some general sparring rooms with the Jedi in mind. While hyperspace made travel shorter, there was still a lot of time spent hurrying up and waiting. 

The gyms all had the standard weights and cardio setup and, while Cody was very keen on getting some time in with the weights and had even talked Rex into spotting for him, he was not expecting to see three Jedi in the gym already. Especially not at such an early hour. 

Skywalker was yawning his way through a sloppy and lazy arm workout, bitching loudly at Cody's General, who was in an armless shirt and _those shorts_ while on some cardio equipment with Tano and gossiping about--Cody didn't know. His brain had just broken. 

His General had tattoos. 

Several tattoos. 

And, and those shorts honestly left absolutely nothing to the imagination. 

"Sweet little gods," Rex whispered next to him. 

Cody turned around and left the gym. Nope. Not today. Not this morning. He had reports, and numbers, and things that made sense and weren't _tattoos_ curling around limbs and _shorts riding up_. 

He needed a shower. 

He didn't look to see if Rex was following him or not. 

It was as if that morning, which was spoken of by no one, was a signal to the Force or the Gods or whatever entity was determined to make Cody's life hell. Or maybe all three were conspiring together to see how fast his head would explode. The past seven battles they had been involved in, his General's clothes had somehow been damaged to expose flesh--and _ink_. 

He had miraculously kept his lightsaber, but not his clothes. Cody was still trying to figure that one out. 

Boil and Waxer, the traitors, were ready with holocams after the first incident and put them up behind a paywall--all proceeds to benefit System Army Gamma's retirement fund. The first incident had just been a ripped tunic, showing the tattoo on the General's arm, but the rest of them? Cody would have almost thought them deliberate, from the way the General's face was turned away in each holo except the last. There was a _kriffing smirk_ on his face in that one as Longshot pulled him to his feet and his pants had ripped, showing a wide swath of thigh and another tattoo. 

Mysteriously, all the Jedi-reinforced, battle-prepared clothing had just ripped. In battle. Failing to do what they were made to do. 

That smirk had Cody going spare. 

"I'm losing my mind," he commed Rex that night. 

"Don't look on the HoloNet then," Rex said, distracted. "Jeez." 

Cody groaned internally and logged into the 'Net, not sure what he was looking for but sure it would find him. And find it he did. The pictures, all six of them, and comments that made him scowl in fury. 

"My General is not a piece of meat," he snarled. 

"You should check with your scouts to see many credits we're raking in before you start getting all righteous," Rex said. 

" _My General is not_ \--" Cody repeated, at a higher volume to try to hammer home the point, when Rex interrupt him. 

"I get it, Codes, I do!" Rex laughed. "But he's playing along, isn't he? Jedi robes do not just rip like that, especially almost as soon as a camera is pointed at him. He's not a dumb man, your Kenobi." 

"He's not my Kenobi, he flirts with everyone," Cody muttered, glaring as more comments started showing up. They were lewd and offensive and made Cody want to lock his General in his quarters and never let him leave the ship. 

Rex's silence was damning. "I'm going to remind you of this conversation at some point in the future and enjoy your sputtering." 

"I can demote you," Cody snapped. 

"You can try," Rex said, voice holding a challenging tone. "Skywalker would probably fight you over it." 

Cody was pretty sure if he tried to demote Rex that General Kenobi would either help him do it, or promote Rex to see what Cody would do. They had a complicated relationship, to put it mildly, Cody and his General, and Cody wouldn't trade it for a thing. He sighed and flicked through more comments, narrowing his eyes at one of them. 

"Rex," he said slowly. "Why are the Jedi aware of those pictures?" 

"What?" Rex asked, startled. 

Cody sent the comment in question over to Rex, feeling a stone form in the pit of his stomach. He was pretty sure that the Jedi who left that comment was a friend of his General's too. Not that Waxer had been very sly with the camera and Rex had a point that his General was playing along, but if the other Jedi were aware of this? Cody was sure that could only mean bad things coming their way. 

Rex hummed softly. "I think that's General Vos? He's a friend of Kenobi's, right?" 

Cody huffed. "I wouldn't really call them 'friends' but yes." 

"What, friends with benefits?" Rex teased. 

"'Damn, I'd love to get between those thighs sometime soon,'" Cody read off with a glare. "You can _hear_ the 'again' in there." 

Rex was quiet for a moment and then there was a swift in-take of air and a choked-back laugh. "Does your terminal auto-update?" he asked after a moment. 

Cody sighed and refreshed it himself. He had turned the feature off as security, and a way around codebreaking, and then felt his eyes widen. An anonymous user had replied to the Jedi with: "Not in this lifetime, Vos, run along now." 

"Holy shit, General," Cody whispered. 

"So," Rex drawled. "What was that about him not being yours?" 

Cody scowled at the comm unit. "Go stick your dick out an airlock, maybe then you can start thinking with your bigger head, coming up with such stupid notions," he muttered. Rex started laughing at him and he disconnected the call. General Kenobi was not, in any way, Cody's. The idea was ludicrous. 

Which was why when, two weeks later, General Vos stopped by with their new supplies and the two Jedi decided to get absurdly drunk, Cody did _not_ get jealous. He was more mature than that. He was more secure in himself and his position than that. 

He also had reports to do, and reports did not allow for jealousy. 

"Uh, Commander?" his comm buzzed. "We have a situation." 

"You deal with it," he said, dismissing it. Nope, not today. He had _reports_. Reports did not flirt as easily as breathing. 

Two hours later there was a bang at his door. He pulled himself away from his paperwork with a scowl and opened his door--to two naked and drunken Jedi. 

"Here!" Vos said cheerfully, hoisting a giggling General Kenobi off on him. "He doesn't want me at all, keeps talking about you. I'm gonna get some sleep." 

Cody stared after him as his General squirmed around to press close and wrap his arms around Cody's neck, _nuzzling against him_ , and all but purring in happiness. "Wh-what am I s--" 

"Have a good night!" Vos sang out, sashaying down the hallway and calling out cheerful greetings to the _vod'e_ he passed. That...that man should definitely always wear clothes. 

"You're warm," his General murmured. 

"I'm also wearing _clothes_ ," Cody said, deciding against walking the other man to his quarters two decks up. Not the way his General was clinging to him and listing as if unable to find his footing properly. It wouldn't be right for the men to see him that way, let alone in such a...drunken state. 

Despite putting himself in that manner and often drinking with the men himself, a part of Cody whispered. Cody mentally squashed it and tugged the troublesome man into his rooms and closed the door, helping him over to bed. He probably still had one of the General's cloaks from the last time they went over reports so at least he could clothe the Jedi, somewhat. 

"You need a better pillow," his General mumbled. 

Cody turned and stared, feeling himself flush all over, as his General sprawled out all loose-limbed in his bed, with all those interesting tattoos Cody knew nothing about and had no idea how to even ask and pale flesh and those _thighs_ and no. Flirting like he breathed. The General's hair was hardly as perfect as it normally was and, in this instance, was smooshed against Cody's pillow and. Cody coughed and turned away, looking for the cloak. He needed to get his General covered. 

Cody found some clothes that would fit the slighter man and approached the bed cautiously, trying to keep his eyes on the man's face. The tattoos were distracting. The _vod'e_ wrote their stories into their flesh with ink, telling each other who they were and how they were different from each other in such ways, but to see ink on someone not a brother? And so much of it? Cody ached to know. This was a side of his General he had never expected, especially since some of it looked old. 

He touched General Kenobi's shoulder and the other man hummed softly, eyes fluttering, but didn't move. Cody sighed and started to put pants on him, pretending it was like any other brother he was taking care of in medbay. 

"Hrm," his General murmured, curling around Cody and nuzzling his neck. "Cody, what're you doing?" 

"Trying to warm you up?" Cody said after a beat. 

General Kenobi laughed softly, the sound rich and low, sending shivers down Cody's spine as clever fingers found their way inside his blacks. "There's better ways of doing that, surely?" he asked. 

Cody refused to let those fingers, _or the kisses along his neck and jaw_ , distract him from getting his General dressed. Even if the man was making it extremely hard to do so. He kept trying to get rid of the clothes--Cody's and his own included. 

"General, please," Cody said, rather breathless as he finally gave in and grabbed those distracting fingers. "You're intoxicated and need to sleep it off." 

Blue-green eyes narrowed at him and then the man flopped back on the bed with with a huff. "You mean you were actually trying to warm me up," he said, words clear. 

"Sir?" Cody asked, confused. 

His General said nothing but scooted over in the bed to make room for Cody to lay down. 

"I, uh. I have to go over a report with Rex," Cody said, standing and bolting from the room. Suddenly the thought of sleeping next to General Kenobi, something he had done plenty of times before, was not an action he was able to do. 

Rex was going to laugh himself sick. 

Rex absolutely laughed himself sick but he gave Cody a place to sleep after not too little grief. It was hard to fall asleep with the memory of lips and fingers on his skin but he managed, somehow. Rex was shoving him awake before he was really ready for it, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Officers were always required to be up before the rank and file. 

"Hey, Cody," Skywalker greeted. "You leave Obi-Wan in bed or something?" 

Cody froze. 

"Haven't seen him around yet," Skywalker muttered. "Hope he's in a decent mood. I broke something again. Don't need him on the warpath or anything." 

Rex was carefully hiding a smirk in his caff mug as Cody turned to slowly look at General Skywalker. 

"Sir?" Cody asked, trying to keep his voice even and failing spectacularly. He sounded like someone had punched him in the gut. 

Skywalker looked at him, surprise on his face. "What, you two fighting already? Honeymoon phase over? I mean, I know Obi-Wan can be a bit of an asshole but--" 

" _Anakin_ ," the General in question hissed from behind the other Jedi, appearing as if summoned from the beyond. He looked perfectly put together, as always, even if there was a pinched quality to his eyes and his mouth. "If you want even a shred of goodwill from me for the next decade you will shut your mouth." 

Skywalker paled. "Master!" he said without turning around, his shoulders and spine a little too straight. "Sleep well?" 

"I have a hangover and want to kill things," General Kenobi said, a tightness to his jaw that wasn't usually there. "Or I want to shove Vos out the nearest airlock, one or the other. Did I hear you say you broke something? _Again_?" 

Cody slunk away to the side to grab his breakfast as General Kenobi laid into Skywalker, his temper definitely in fine form. He was not, at all, thinking that the temper made the General look gorgeous. Nope. Not even a little. He needed to get himself under control, honestly. 

This had gone on long enough, had even begun to impact his relationship with his General! He should never have left the other man alone last night. What if he had needed him, if he had been too intoxicated to properly care for himself? Cody had seen other soldiers so inebriated where they needed constant tending to throughout the night. He had abandoned his General, and his duty, last night by letting his "feelings" get in the way. 

Rex caught up to him a little while later with another mug of caff and a grin. "So," he drawled. 

"What was that?" Cody asked, head tilted toward Skywalker as he tried to get himself under control. 

"What was what?" Rex asked, feigning innocence. 

"How does Skywalker know about--" 

"I didn't tell him anything," Rex said, shutting down that particular line of thought. "It's not like it's hard to figure out, Cody." Panic shot through him and he stared at Rex, who sighed. "I'm not getting involved in this. You two need to figure this out yourselves." 

"He's my commanding officer," Cody said. "And a Jedi." 

Rex stared at him. "And? You think that's going to compromise something? You run the Army more than he does. He's yanked all over the Galaxy and he relies on you to keep things running. If you weren't there, he'd be kriffed and you know it." 

Cody frowned. "Rex." 

"Now, if it were anyone else under his command--me, or Boil, or anyone else in the System Army Gamma? There'd be possible cause for concern. You kind of skate around it because you're basically his counterpart. He listens to you, Codes." 

Cody sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I hate you." 

Rex smirked. "The odds are in your favor." 

"Odds?" 

Rex knocked his shoulder and wandered off, whistling. 

"Odds?" Cody called after him, confused and not liking it. What odds? That sounded like a bet, but Longshot wasn't running any new bets! And certainly nothing on Cody--he'd checked the damned book himself! 

Based on the way his cycle had started, Cody was not surprised when his General tracked him down with a sour expression. 

"I'm being called to Coruscant for a Council meeting," General Kenobi said with a tired grimace. "They want a report from you as well about the general performance of--" the General twirled his finger in the air. "I stopped listening to Mace. Whatever he actually wants is on your comm, though I'm pretty sure he's pulling the same crap on Plo and Wolffe, Kit and Bly, so on and so forth. Get all the Marshall Commanders in one place so the Council can get whatever it is they think they want from you lot and then you can have a bitchfest at 79s while the rest of us can pretend to actually do something--what?" 

Cody was staring at him, stunned. "Sir?" he asked. He had never heard his General talk this way before. 

General Kenobi sighed, looking away and off to the side. "I'm annoyed at the timing; we have too much to do out here. I also dislike going back to Coruscant; it feels like every time I go back there something... _happens_. Ripples, currents, in the Force. I'm getting tired of going Council meetings where we argue the same points over and over again for hours on end and nothing gets accomplished." 

"We all have our duty," Cody said hesitantly. 

"Duty," General Kenobi muttered darkly before looking off to the side. "I'll be arranging a shuttle so we can leave in a few hours. Mace was _extremely_ insistent, for some reason. I swear, if he just wants to have someone to spar with like last time, I'm throwing him off the top of the Council Tower." 

"Yes, sir," Cody said, unsure and watching as his General sighed and walked off, still muttering. What was going on? 

Cody went back to his room, putting together a small bag with his officer's uniform--he hated the damned thing--and a change of clothes. He stopped Odd Ball in the hall and let the other Commander know he was in charge while he and the General were on Coruscant, should anything happen, not that Cody expected much to happen. Odd Ball gave him a nod and a sly look but said nothing, carrying about his business. 

When Cody got to the hangar it was to find the General already prepping a shuttle with General Skywalker talking to him quietly. 

"Yes, Anakin, I'm aware," his General was saying, clearly annoyed. "I am not so inept at this as you seem to think." 

"You--" 

"Just because I leave the flying to you does not mean I don't know how to fly," General Kenobi snapped. "Get out." 

Skywalker straightened. "Jeez, fine. I feel sorry for Cody, having to put up with you in this mood." 

"I'm not in a mood," General Kenobi muttered. 

"You are," Skywalker said, gesturing. It seemed that neither Jedi had noticed Cody yet, which suited him just fine. "You get like this, all snappy and prickly and, and, and basically you turn into an asshole whenever something isn't going the way you want it to go." 

"I beg your--!" General Kenobi demanded, turning away from the shuttles instrument panel to stare at Skywalker. "I do not!" 

"You do," Skywalker said, arms crossed. "So, what's gone wrong in your perfect world?" 

Every trooper learned early that while Kenobi and Skywalker were a dream to work with and devastation together on the battlefield, they were equally devastating to one another whenever they set their sights on the other. Cody was careful to make noise and cleared his throat as he secured his pack. 

"'lo," he greeted. 

"Commander," his General greeted, voice barely a growl. 

"Commander," Skywalker echoed, slightly friendlier. "Good luck. _Someone_ 's in a mood." 

"Get. Out," Kenobi ordered. 

"With. Pleasure," Skywalker said as he stormed passed Cody and off the shuttle. 

Cody watched quietly as his General threw himself back into his chair and continued prepping the shuttle. He took the co-pilot's seat and helped the process, calling into the bridge so they would lower the shields and let them pass. He could feel his General stewing and felt it was probably best to let him get it out of his system. Kenobi would speak when he was ready and not a moment sooner. 

It was, however, Cody who broke the silence. They had nearly two days of travel ahead of them, even with hyperspace, and it was just the two of them in the shuttle. With the General staring out at the streaking stars for the past four hours without a single word, well. Cody figured it was maybe time to break the silence. 

"Sir?" Cody asked, leaning back in his chair, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him. "I couldn't help but notice the other night and, uh, some previous times that you have a lot of tattoos." His General's lips quirked in a quicksilver smile before flattening. "May I ask why, and what they're for?" 

Kenobi was quiet for a while, and Cody wondered if maybe he wasn't going to answer at all, before he sighed and shifted in his seat. "You know," he said slowly. "There's no one else here. You can call me 'Obi-Wan' if you want." 

Cody frowned, trying not to read into it. He flirts with everyone, is friendly with everyone. "That wouldn't be proper, would it?" 

General Kenobi looked pained for a second before his face smoothed out. "Remembrance," he said quietly, after a moment. "Failure. Those I've loved and lost, or want to keep close to me. As Jedi, we don't own physical objects aside from our clothes and our lightsabers, and even those could be debated as whether they are ours or not. I have no way of remembering someone close to me the way other people do, and so I decide to wear their memories on my skin." 

Cody stared at him, stunned. "S-sir." 

"I don't know what to do about one for the 212th," the General said after another lapse of silence. "My regular artist died a few years ago and while I could find another who is familiar with inking Force-sensitives, it is hard to find someone to collaborate with reliably. We've--I've lost so many of you and I feel it keenly. Those losses deserve to be remembered just as much as, as the others." 

Cody considered the stars for a moment. "You know, we have plenty of capable artists who would be honored to create something for you, sir." 

The General glanced at him and nodded before lapsing back into silence. Cody let him have it, getting up to grab his datapad and both of them water. If his General was still suffering a hangover the water would be a blessing. 

"Here, sir," Cody said, passing him the sealed bottle. Kenobi looked up and took it with a smile of thanks, cracking it open without a word and taking a sip. Cody took his seat again and started scrolling through his datapad. There wasn't much for him to do; he and Rex had gone over most of it the past few nights. 

"May I ask a personal question?" his General asked suddenly, rolling the bottle between his hands. 

Cody frowned, looking up from the datapad. "I suppose so, sir." 

"Are you and Rex involved?" General Kenobi asked, a faint frown on his face. He jerked slightly, his expression clearing as he faced Cody fully. "Whatever you answer, it is in the strictest of confidences and will have no impact on how I deal with either you or the Captain. I am just…" A sigh and General Kenobi slouched in his seat. "I'm trying to figure out a mystery and that seems to be the most likely solution." 

Cody stared at him. "I love Rex but we're more like you and Skywalker than anyone gives us credit for," he said, trying not to smile. "We'd murder each other if forced to be in close quarters all the time. If we were actually in a relationship? There'd be blood on the walls. Probably mine, if we're going to be honest." 

General Kenobi arched an eyebrow, a smile on his face. "Your blood?" 

Cody set his datapad aside, grinning. "Rex is a brawler, if you haven't noticed. He can and will be all nice and polite in a fight, if he has to. He would much rather go flying in, no holds barred, warcry ringing. I'm a sniper. If I'm in a full-frontal, I'm going to do the most amount of damage I can and bolt. Rex would make me bleed and suffer before I could withdraw. You bet my blood would be on the walls." 

General Kenobi chuckled. "There is a reason he can keep up with Anakin." 

"Why did you want to know, sir?" Cody asked. 

The General hesitated and looked out at the stars. "I've had a problem for the past six months or so," he said. "I've rather liked this man--incredibly competent and funny and caring and all these things I had always wanted for myself but given up on ever finding--and we seem to get along wonderfully, even in this hellish war. I've tried to let him know I'm interested in him and I've thought he's reciprocated the interest as well? But every time I try to do something, he shuts me down and runs away." 

Cody stared at his General, feeling his throat tighten. Well, kark. "I, uh, I could put in a good word with Rex?" 

General Kenobi stared at him, blinking rapidly for a second, his face blank in a way that Cody had never seen before. After a moment Cody could see the General repeating the words under his breath, though he looked confused. The General's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward in his seat, lips still soundlessly repeating Cody's words. The confusion was there but the General seemed to be putting something together if the furrow between his eyes was any indicator. Cody felt pinned to his seat by the intensity in that look as the General slumped back in his seat and started laughing. 

"Force, you think--! Cody, you sweet, lovable idiot. I don't like Rex," General Kenobi said with a smile as he calmed his laughter. "I like you, you _idiot_. I've been half-horrified I read the situation all wrong and, I don't know, tried to force myself on you last night and that's why you fled last night. Quin got tired of listening to me comm him and whine about how much I liked you--asshole actually recorded the calls and dumped them on the public servers for the System Army and I haven't been able to clear them all, if you want to see them--" 

"Wait, what?" Cody interrupted, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening. "You like me, as in all that flirting was actual flirting and not just you, you being you?" 

General Kenobi blinked at him in affront. "I mean, yes?" 

"You flirt with your _tea_ ," Cody said. 

"Well, I mean," General Kenobi said, a flush on his cheeks, "a good cup of tea should be appreciated. And I'd hardly call it flirting--" 

"You called it a--" 

"Really, do we have to go there?" the General protested, looking embarrassed. 

Cody frowned. "Ventress?" 

General Kenobi shrugged, "It makes her angry. Anything that does that works in my book. When I was younger and just starting to actually look less than tragic, my Master pulled me aside and told me that sometimes one must use what the Force has given us to grant us that extra edge in any situation we can take advantage of it in." 

Cody frowned. "That sounds...less than honorable." 

"Oh, it is," General Kenobi agreed. "But it works and it gets results. When all else fails, sometimes a pretty face and a kind word to an angry head of state is all it takes to avoid a war or to sign a piece of flimsi." He looked bitter and uncomfortable. "Unfortunately, you do what you must to get the mission done. _Duty_ , afterall." 

Cody nodded slowly. He understood that all too well. "So. You like me?" he asked. 

His General smiled at him, looking pleased. "Rather hopelessly." 

"I kept having to remind myself that you flirted with everyone so it meant nothing," Cody said. "I'd been warned." 

The General looked outraged. "Warned? By who!" Cody arched a brow. "I'm going to kill him." 

Cody snickered. "I had a hell of a time trying to fall asleep last night, kept thinking of your fingers and mouth," he admitted. 

General Kenobi glanced at the instrument panel and chewed his lip for a second. "Cody," he asked after a second, a hint of pleading in his voice. "Won't you call me 'Obi-Wan' now?" 

Cody reached across the space between them to take his General's hand, thrilled to know that yes, his General was in fact _his_ General now, and gave it a squeeze. It stuck in his throat, oddly enough, not because of duty or impropriety but because names were important. The General's eyes slid to his face--subtle, nice way of not putting pressure on someone--and he squeezed back. 

"Obi-Wan," Cody said softly. He imagined he'd leave it just for them, as the shy smile broke across his General's face, or if he needed to make a point. Or even, maybe the slightest bit, if he needed to get his fool General into the medic's clutches. His Obi-Wan--and he did like the sound of that--was a destructive force, after all. 

The two days in hyperspace gave them plenty of time to talk and to learn a little more about each other as individuals and not just General and Commander, Jedi and Clone. There had been touches, testing and confirmatory that--yes, indeed, they did truly like each other in _that_ particular way. Neither were of the mind to rush into things now that the matter had been settled between them, even if they did enjoy certain aspects of the relationship. Yes, a war was on-going and who knew what would happen, but that was no reason to be reckless with one's heart as well. 

"If you could," Cody began with a teasing smile, "maybe manage to be less reckless with yourself as well? I would appreciate that." 

His Obi-Wan blinked at him before a sly smile spread across his face and his eyes shifted green with mischief. "I'm sure if it slips my mind you'll remind me how it displeases you and that it is in my best interest to keep myself safe?" 

Cody stared at him, certain things falling into place, and laughed. He tugged his troublesome General back into his arms as they waited out the final approach to Coruscant. 

Cody was pleased, once they landed, that Wolffe was there to greet them. He missed his grumpy batchmate and was looking forward to harassing him later. 

"Which one made the first move," Wolffe said, eyes narrowed when he saw them. 

Cody's General barely missed a step as he greeted General Windu and General Koon but Cody noticed the narrowed eyes. Ponds was on his comm and looking resigned to his fate, though almost everyone had that expression around Wolffe. 

"What move?" Cody asked, arching an eyebrow. 

Wolffe--Force-blessed Wolffe--pointed at General Kenobi. "Nice hickey," he said with a wide, toothy grin. 

Cody could almost see the physical twitch General Kenobi was supressing to not slap a hand over the mark that was high on his neck, right below his ear, that neither of them had thought about. General Windu was openly smirking at both of them, hands behind his back, and General Koon was chuckling through his mask. 

"What does it matter who made what move?" General Kenobi asked, voice deceptively calm. 

"Tano's got a book open on you two," Ponds said, still typing into his comm. "Some of us are about to either win a very large about of credits or lose. We'd like to know which it is." 

"Did you know about this?" General Kenobi demanded of the two Jedi. 

"You are both dead to me," Cody told Ponds and Wolffe. 

"My dear Obi-Wan," Windu said with a cheerful smile. "I was one of the first to place a bet." 

"The two of you were rather obvious," General Koon chimed in, still chuckling. 

"You'd do the same to us," Wolffe said. Which, unfortunately, was fair. 

"I want my standard twenty-percent cut of all bets placed on me," General Kenobi said immediately. "Especially as Ahsoka had insider information and could cook the books. Don't you people know anything about gambling? Honestly." 

Windu snorted, "I honestly wonder what Qui-Gon taught you sometimes." 

General Kenobi gave him a sly smirk that would not have been out of place on Wolffe's face. Cody should not have found that attractive. "And you will never know all of it until you need to," he said. "Should we log the conclusion with Ahsoka, then, and let her break the news to everyone?" 

"No, you can tell us now," Wolffe said, shoving at Cody. 

General Kenobi gave a careless shrug. "You bet on your brother, and my love life, two things which I feel deserves no immediate reward," he said. "If Cody wishes to tell you, that's his choice." 

"You're enjoying this far too much," Windu accused. "Just tell us what happened, Obi-Wan." 

General Kenobi's smirk grew and he walked off instead of answering. Cody was only not grinning through years of practice as three men and a Kel Dor turned to him for answers and he followed his General example--keep his mouth shut and go about his business. The swears Wolffe threw at his back and the laugh his former General let loose were merely icing on the cake as he caught up to his General. 

"In case you're interested," his General murmured quietly as they walked, "I did bring those charming shorts Waxer ordered. Yes, he came clean, nothing to worry about. But we do have some wonderful, private training rooms here and you could always, uh, assist me in some of the finer points of hand-to-hand?" 

Cody gently knocked his shoulder against his General's. "Sir, I would be honored to pin you to the mats." 

The smile Obi-Wan flashed him was utterly filthy before they entered the Council Chamber. 


End file.
